Camden Valley Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Flight near Sydney

Camden Valley sits 70 minutes from the middle of Sydney, which is the whole argument for this flight. Getting above open country here does not take a weekend away or a long drive, only an early alarm. Balloon Aloft runs it, and take-off is at sunrise, when the air over the valley is still and the light comes in flat across the fields. Camden is wine country, so what passes underneath is a mix of vineyard and working farmland, with the valley opening out as the balloon climbs. Dams catch the first light before anything else does. Where the balloon drifts is the wind's decision rather than the pilot's, which is why no two mornings out of here are quite the same, and why the crew follows in a vehicle instead of waiting at the launch field. In-flight photography comes with it, according to Balloon Aloft. The balloon lands wherever the crew has picked, and the morning finishes at the Camden Valley Inn with a champagne toast and breakfast. It is still early enough by then that most of Sydney is only getting started.